On 16 June 2009, Steve was diagnosed with mesothelioma - an aggressive cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, for which there is no known cure at present. This blog is my record our feelings, our actions and the outcome of our attempts to deal with this disease. If nothing else, it will be a way to let family and friends know what's happening. I hope that sharing this experience will help others in this position and raise awareness of mesothelioma.

Sunday, 30 March 2014

VanSel1 Trial Cycle 2 Days 10-14

Another unpredictable week in terms of how Steve feels - at times he has been O.K, then the stomach cramps begin, or he has to rush to the loo, or he feels tired...so we have just had to go with the flow, depending on how he feels at any particular moment in time. When Steve is like this, it's difficult to venture far from home. As a result, our plans to go to Bristol today to see our son and visit Steve's mum on Mothering Sunday have been put on hold. Perhaps we'll be able to make the trip next week some time instead. For the same reason, we had to decline an invitation to join others for a meal out last night. However, our friends Richard and Alison, over from France for their annual UK visit, dropped in on us yesterday afternoon. It was good to talk and hear their news. The last time we had seen Richard was at a village cafe bar in Lirac, near Avignon, before catching the Eurostar back home after a week in France last June, so there was a bit of catching up to do!Steve was too tired to go to a reception on Friday evening at the Town Hall Gallery to celebrate the opening of the Port Meadow exhibition where we both have work on show, but I took some photos and hopefully he will be able to see the show in person before too long.

As we have been more or less tied to the house since last week's hospital visits, it's been a good opportunity to get on with some spring cleaning and make a bit more progress working in the garden. However we must wait until the fledging blackbird has flown the nest before cutting back the hedge outside the kitchen door - I don't think it will be long..it's near as big as its parents now!A huge bouquet of Mother's Day daffodils and tulips arrived from our daughter yesterday - too many for even our largest vase - so we now have flowers everywhere brightening up the house. Thank you Katie!

Back to hospital tomorrow for the regular weekly tests and observations, and then the wait to see if Steve still meets the drug trial protocols and can carry on taking the tablets. We live in hope that the impact of the side effects of the trial drugs will become a bit more manageable over time. We know that some patients have had 8-10 cycles of treatment, so perhaps things do begin to settle down after a while. I don't think Steve would be very happy to carry on that long the way he feels at the moment. However, if the drugs are working, he may feel differently. Only time will tell....Just two more weeks to go until the end of cycle 2 when we will find out whether or not the mesothelioma has been stopped in its tracks.